Education Briefs

Fort Lewis College Continuing Education’s new Wine Tasting Series will be taught by sommelier Alan Cuenca on Wednesday evenings.

Each class session will begin with a lecture followed by guided tastings. “Wine Fundamentals” will be held Feb. 13, 20 and 27, “Old World/New World Wines” on March 13, “Pinot Noir Wines” on March 20 and “Spanish Wines” on March 27.

The cost includes wines, James Ranch aged Belford cheese, crackers, apples and the necessary accoutrements. The cost is $199 for the entire series, or classes are available separately at costs ranging from $39 to $139. Advance registration is required.

There are numerous opportunities for potential students and their families to learn more about the school. Information nights, weekly tours and student shadow experiences have begun.

Information Night Sessions will be held from 5 to 6:30 Feb. 7, 14, 21 and 28 on campus.

Student Shadow Experiences are available to students Fridays throughout the month. Shadow space is limited. For more information or to schedule an experience, call 247-2474 or email enroll@animashighschool.com.

The Parent Advisory Committee will meet at noon Monday at Doughworks, 2653 Main Ave.

Durango Mountain Resort Locals Day will benefit AHS on Sunday. Tickets are $40 for adults, $32 for students/seniors, and $25 for children. People must present a Locals Day coupon to get discounted tickets. Coupons will be available in early February on the AHS website, AHS Quill, and The Durango Telegraph.

There will be no school Feb. 18 and 19.

Semester Two Student Led Conferences will be held Feb. 27.

Mountain Middle School offering enrollment lottery

Families interested in attending Mountain Middle School have until 11:59 p.m. Friday to enter their child’s name in the lottery for next school year, 2013-14.

With the start of each school year, 56 new sixth-graders are accepted. Because the school is a public charter school, all students are welcome to put their names in the lottery and attend. There are no geographic boundaries. Available seats in seventh- and eighth-grade are more uncertain. In those grades, new openings only occur by the withdrawal of an existing student.

Once the lottery enrollment period is closed, new names are added to the bottom of the waiting-list. Another way to earn a lottery-exempt seat is through volunteer hours.

Fort Lewis College will host its annual Latino College Day from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 16 in the student union ballroom.

Participants will engage and get to know other students, faculty and alumni from the Hispanic community. Participants will be part of Skyhawk Saturday in the morning and will participate in scheduled workshops and campus tours until 12:30 p.m., when Latino College Day begins with a Latino student panel during lunch in the dining hall to be followed by a look at the new Hispano center.

Workshops in the afternoon include topics such as exploring cultural identity, information about financial aid and scholarship assistance as well as an opportunity to fill out applications and have the application fee waived. Gas stipends for visitors will be provided by the Ballantine Family Fund grant.

The Durango Foundation for Educational Excellence will offer six separate scholarships this year for high school seniors graduating from Durango High School, Durango Big Picture School and the DeNier Center.

Scholarships were donated by the Durango School District Administrative Team, the Brinton Family, the sons of Mary Ruth Bowman, the family of Tom Hartney, the Newbold and Zink Family Funds, Sachs Construction LLC as well as the DFEE Board of Trustees.

For criteria and application information, visit www.dfee.net, email info@dfee.net or call 385-1491. The application deadline is April 1. Winners will be announced at the Durango High School Awards Night in May.

Driver’s education class to be offered Feb. 18-21

Four Corners Safety Association will offer the next 30-hour driver’s education class from Feb. 18 to 21.

The cost for the class plus the six hours of driving required by the state is $385. Classes are limited to 25 students.

For more information and registration, call Tim Cunningham at 375-1230.

Touchpoints training is coming in March

The Early Childhood Council of La Plata County announces an upcoming Touchpoints Individual Level Training three-day seminar from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 1, 8 and 15 for professionals who work with young children and families.

Touchpoints is a practical approach for enhancing the competence of parents and building strong family-child relationships from before birth through the earliest years, laying the foundation for children’s healthy development. The registration deadline is Feb. 22.

Fort Lewis College will offer College Goal Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 16 in Reed Library on campus.

The aim is to provide families with free professional guidance about ways to pay for college, specifically how to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FAFSA must be completed for a student to receive any type of financial aid, including grants, work study, student loans and many scholarships.

Students are encouraged to submit their FAFSA as early as they can to receive as much financial aid as possible. Families are encouraged to bring their 2012 federal tax records and Social Security numbers to the event.

The Durango High School Expo, an event for eighth-grade students in Durango and their families, will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at the school.

Participants will have an opportunity to explore a variety of elective options and decide which Small Learning Community is best. Options include: Atlas, Basecamp, Big Picture or DaVinci. Attendees also will receive an informational brochure, including the Small Learning Community selection form and application, and have a chance to speak to teachers within each community. Selection forms are due by Feb. 15.

Bullying seminar to be held Saturday

Durango School District, Mountain Middle School and Animas High School will present a seminar about bullying Saturday at Fort Lewis College’s Concert Hall.

The doors will open at 8 a.m. Mark Hyatt, president and CEO of Character Education Partnership; Daniel Snowberger, superintendent of Durango School District; Michael Ackerman, head of school of Animas High School; and Jackie Oros, head of school of Mountain Middle School will talk about how bullying is addressed in the community.

Gifted/Talented Advisory meeting set for Thursday

A Gifted/Talented Advisory meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Escalante Middle School Media Center.

The group works to revise and improve gifted/talented services throughout Durango School District. The public is welcome.

Riverview Elementary School to host musical performance

Riverview Elementary School’s first-grade students will perform a collection of songs about the weather from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Riverview Media Center.

Riverview families and friends are invited.

For more information, call Shannon Fontenot at 247-3862.

Parenting class to be held at Animas Valley Elementary

A six-week Love and Logic Parenting Class will be offered from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays from Feb. 27 to April 3 in the counselor’s office at Animas Valley Elementary School.

The fee for the class is $35 for single parents or $40 per couple, which includes a parent handbook, child care and snacks. Scholarships are available.

Child care provider Cody Reinheimer will offer creative playtime with the children. A portion of the children’s time will be devoted to exploring a series of activities called “Compassionate Communication for Kids” based on the work of Marshall Rosenberg in the area of nonviolent communication.

The playtime will include communication games, role playing, puppetry and more, with the intention of helping children identify, feel and communicate their emotions, while also developing the ability to empathize with others’ emotions.

For more information, call Barbara Frontella at 247-0124, ext. 3423.

School Based Health Centers survey available to community

Durango residents can share what they think about School Based Health Centers in Durango by taking a survey.

This survey has a short video explanation about how the health centers operate and what they provide. To take the survey, click on the “Bighorn App” on Durango School District’s Facebook page.

Durango schools to close for winter break, Feb. 18-22

Durango School District schools will be closed Feb. 18-22 for winter break.

Durango High School choirs to host fundraisers for trip

The choirs at Durango High School have been accepted to perform at Disneyland during the school’s April break.

The choirs are raising money to help pay for the approximately $20,000 cost of the trip. The choir will host a community night from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Wendy’s, 1840 Main Ave.

Mountain Middle to host gala fundraiser Friday

Mountain Middle School will host its second annual Valentine’s Gala Fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave.

The event will feature live and silent auctions, student glee performances, heavy hors d’oeuvres and Pomegranate Sweetheart Martinis. Tickets are $75 in advance and $80 at the door. They are available for purchase at Mountain Middle School, 108 West 31st St., or at www.mountainmiddleschool.org.

For more information, call 769-8449.

Sunnyside competes in academic competition

Students from many states and several countries competed Jan. 23 in the 48th fifth- and sixth-grade Knowledge Master Open academic competition.

The Sunnyside Elementary School team, made up of four fourth-grade students, competed with fifth-graders. In the fifth-grade division, the team of Jake Genualdi, Sam Johnson, Lily Longan and Gage Moenning placed second in Colorado. Out of 175 schools nationally, the team ranked 97th overall.

The Durango High School Robotics Club will visit Denver in February to compete in the first Tech Challenge game Ring It Up.

The students involved have designed and built the robot during the last five months to play a vertical tic-tac-toe. They have learned and written programs for the robot using the programing language RobotC. There is an autonomous and driver-controlled portion of the competition.